[ male announcer ] want to pump up your gas mileage? come to meineke for our free fuel-efficiency check and you'll say...my money. my choice. my meineke. c -- captions by vitacr--ree fu lwww.vitac.comheck by the authority vested in me, by the laws of the state of new york, i now pronounce you married. you maciel your vows with a kiss. >> i now pronounce you married. you may seal your vows with a kiss. >> i now pronounce you legally married. >> it's a historic day. same-sex marriages begin and this hour live coverage as mayor michael bloomberg officiates a

wedding between two of its staff members, also trying to get a debt deal done. happening right now, president obama meeting with members of congress. that as we get breaking news about the republicans' newest move to settle the debt ceiling crisis. plus this. a quiet remembrance, broken only by the sounds of raindrops in norway as the country pays respect to nearly 100 people, most of them children killed in two terrorist attacks on friday. there's more information about the manifesto the suspect left behind. i'm don lemon. you're in the cnn newsroom. the long and sometimes tedious debate over raising the nation's dead ceiling has suddenly become a fast-moving story with lots of twists and turns. there are breaking development this evening. our chief white house

correspondent jessica yellin is standing by for us live as well as our congressional correspondent kate bolduan standing on the hill. i'm going to start with you. where do things stand right now at the capitol? what can you tell us? >> reporter: there seem to be a couple of paths going on right now. but the latest on the internal republican talk, this is the phone call that john boehner and others are holding. we received a readout from a couple of sources familiar with the call-in. kind of the bottom line, you heard speaker boehner on this call say -- give a tough talk to his members saying we need to stick together and stick to our principles. but at the same time he also appeared to be laying the groundwork on this call, that they're going to need to compromise because they're going to need to agree to something that will pass the house and get to the president's house. also he was not announcing any deal or bipartisan agreement this late in the afternoon. one quote from the call, he told members, quote, it's going to

require some of you to make some sacrifices. at the very same time, don, real quickly, on the other side of the capitol, because, really, they have not made any significant progress for the bipartisan agreement, the democratic leader of the senate, harry reid, he's now, according to a democratic aide, pushing his own proposal to raise the debt ceiling, one that would raise it through 2012, at least $2.5 trillion in debt reduction and they would also satisfy some of the requirements by house republicans, so that is something that he is pushing. so at the moment we're not -- we're seeing more division than we are seeing agreement here on capitol hill, don. >> it sounds like republicans are standing firm, no signs of backing off in that call. >> reporter: it seems that we -- it sounded from the call that we're getting a little bit of both, if you will, that they were standing firm on their principles. as it was described to me in the call, the house speaker said we

need to stick to our principles of cut, cap, balance even though there was an acknowledgement that cut, cap, balance was not going to happen because it was not going to pass in the senate. what it seemed he was going to be saying is we're going to need to compromise, laying the groundwork. it may be what you have to do. >> kate, thank you very much. we want to get to the white house. jessica, i hear there's a high-level meeting starting now at the white house. what's going on? >> reporter: that's right. president obama meeting with majority leader reid and minority leader pelosi. an update -- status update as i understand it to talk about what the next step might be. my understanding here, a sense of concern, some nervousness but a desire to take the initiative and push forward. the focus now is shifting in essence to the senate and to see if there's a way to get this out of the house and move onto the

senate where we have seen in the pass when impasses and the senate can often find a find a resolution and the focus now, my understanding, a little bit -- not just here at the white house but even on chile, away from talking necessarily about passes and entitlements as we've heard but a way to just avoid another one of these debt ceiling crises next year and see if there's a way to avoid having a second vote on this debt ceiling so we have one vote this time and avoid this again before the 2012 election comes. so both sides trying to find some kind of resolution. certainly no clarity at this point. high-level meeting as you say going on at the oval office right now. as i'm told, no plant statement or i'm not expecting one yet, at least from the president, nothing i've heard so far. but i'll keep you posted if that changes, don. >> thank you, jessica yellin and kate bolduan. the new york city hotel maid who accused the former imf

director of rape is going forward with her accusation. in interviews with media outlets including ""newsweek,"" the 32-year-old guinean gives her comments. they're still deciding whether to move ahead with the case or to drop the charges. now listen to this. >> i now pronounce you legally married. >> the first time those words were ever legal ly spoken to a couple in new york stay. the bride and bride tied the laws in new york state. the wedding bells have been ringing all day since then. this hour you're going to be a guest at a gay wedding in new york city. we're going to get you some live pictures. the official home of mayor michael bloomberg. in just a short while mayor

michael bloomberg will officiate at the wedding of two of his male staffers and we'll bring that to you here live in the cnn newsroom. new york city was so swamped for marriage licences they had to hold a lottery for 764 open slots. if all of those weddings happen today, it will be a one-day record for the city. our susan can ddiotti takes us there. >> reporter: they're the first male cup toll say "i do" as cameras rolled at the city clerk's office. >> till death do us part. >> when i heard those words "till death do us part," i started to cry. i couldn't stop at that point. >> reporter: they exchanged vows in front of a handful of witnesses. they met online, fell in love at first sight and have been fighting for same-sex marriage ever since. >> we've been waiting for this. >> this is my husband now,

freddie, as opposed to my boyfriend or my partner. >> reporter: the significance hasn't escaped them or what they hope to proudly tell their children one day. >> i guess we'll be telling them when we were young, you know, there was no such thing as this and we were part of that day, we were part of the people who were there when it did happen in new york at least. >> reporter: they plan on saving the e-mail that told them they won a city hall lottery allowing them to marry this morning. >> as soon as i read this line, congratulations -- >> did you scream? >> did i scream? i'm amazed they didn't hear me on the end of the city. >> reporter: freddie works for an insurance company, marcos, a law firm. together they supported the same-sex movement. >> i told people in lie life that they're not totally okay with it but they accept it and just the fact that they respect us because of it is truly all i can ask for. >> they've already been wearing

their ringings for five years. >> we're going to polish them up and exchange them again because we weren't able to do so. >> with this ring i thee wed. >> reporter: but now they have something they did not have before, a wedding certificate with the words -- >> we're married. >> reporter: susan candiotti, cnn, new york. >> of course, there are many in new york and across the country who oppose same-sex marriage. thousands of people turn toutd protest across the new york city office, angry that gay men and women now have the same rights as straight couples. >> that's not what the bible says. the bible says that there's a husband and a wife and that's how we're to bring up our children. >> men married men, women married women, we're against that. not only that we're against it but god is.

>> well, many of these protesters are irritated that lawmakers didn't go to the voters like other states have done and despite local opposition, today there has been no stopping the sprint down the aisle that hundreds of same-sex couples are making. as we mentioned before, we'll go live to a same-sex marriage officiated by mayor michael bloomberg a little later on this hour. i want to turn now to the tragedy in norway and the disturbing window into the mind of the man suspected of killing at least 93 people in a pair of terrorist attacks there. ♪ >> images from a 12-minute video reportedly created by anders beari bearing breivik. there's a 1,500-page manifesto

that was published online the day of the attack. he's expected to plead not guilty. meantime norway's prime minister led a memorial service. hundreds gathered to mourn, laying flowers and candles outside. we'll go to nic robertson now. he's standing by for us in oslo. nic, what are we learning in spite of all this new evidence. >> reporter: it is clear that if he made the 12-minute video, the link was buried in the manifesto and it was posted on youtube and appears to have been posted a couple of hours before the car bomb. it does appear to spell out his motivations and indeed how he perpetrated the attack, how he's vaded detection. his motivation, he said, is he is against the islamaization of europe and blames the marxist

european government and he believes a christian crusade is the solution to this and that's laid out very clearly in the manifesto. but perhaps for security officials, law enforcement officials here, what is very worrying here is he lays out in the manifesto blow by blow by blow exactly how he built the bombs, exactly how he's vaded detection, and for officials here that's worrying because that's going to put a lot of very dangerous information out on the internet that isn't actually there. that said, it seems, officials believe, this is where he learned most of his bomb-making and other skills through open sources on the internet, don. >> is there any information to indicate that the suspect may have gotten support from anyone else? >> reporter: at the moment he's saying that he acted alone. we certainly aren't taking that at face value. there's nothing that we've seen so far that would indicate that.

indeed when you look through some of the pages of the 1,500-page manifesto, he specifically said how he didn't tell other people and he should have withdrawn from the radical groups a year and a half ago. e's managed to avoid detection. he didn't share it with other people. he's certainly been estranged from his family for a long time and his friends in the manifesto. he rid cues them in many cases and gives the analysis that they didn't believe any sort of the ideas that he believed in and he was ignoring them and carrying on by himselfet. at one point he said what one person can do is perhaps than a hundred,000 other people who just think about doing something. >> nic robertson, thank you so much. before nic joined us, i mentioned the memorial service. we're going take you there next

hour. you know, we need a deficit reduction deal before august 2nd, and time is coming really quickly. how close are we to an agreement? that discussion is next. and it's official. same-sex marriages occurring in new york. ahead, you'll see a live ceremony from new york coming up. if you want information from us, you can read out on social media, twitter and on foursqu e foursquare. easy dishes. we're facing some tough opposition today. i'm gonna need my biggest player. a change in the lineup? that little squirt? [ cheers and applause ] [ female announcer ] one bottle of ultra dawn has the grease-cleaning power of two of the leading non-concentrated brand, giving you double the cleaning ingredients in every drop. [ sponge ] way to go, kid. you really knocked the grease out of them. [ female announcer ] dawn does more... [ sponge ] so it's not a chore. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced.

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that we move this threat of default from the country for the next 18 months. et it's very important we do that. we can't leave the -- you know, this is a hard thing to do and

you want to take this out of politics. you don't want politics messing around with america's credit. >> that was treasury secretary timothy geithner on cnn's "state of the union" warning of the dangers of a financial default. let's talk about it. contributor. public policy researcher group. welcome to both of you. that was a mouthful. i got that out. okay. >> thanks, don. >> okay. we've got talks that are going on at both ends of pennsylvania avenue by phone or at the white house. so, will, geithner says he wants politics out of the debt ceil debate, but this whole stalemate is nothing but politics, right? >> absolutely. let me say this. they've maintained kind of a moral high ground. obama has come off as the adult in the room. but geithner managed to politicize two issues and illustrate why this is falling apart. there will be no defought.

we don't have enough money to cover our bills but we will pay our bondholders. why would geithner suggest we wouldn't. making sure the debt ceiling goes beyond the next election. >> what about people saying this is a manufactured incident, this is a manufactured crisis here, this whole debt ceiling thing. >> it is a manufactured crisis in the sense of, you know, where was the outrage from the republican party about the skyrocketing debt under the bush administration when, of course, the majority of the policies that have caused the deficit to increase were put into place? we know that ronald reagan increased the debt limit 17 or 18 times during his presidency. this is a manufactured crisis because we're putting nation's full faith and credit at risk simply basically for an argument that's quite ideological about tax cuts and in the end on

corporations and millionaires and billionaires. >> do you agree with that, will? >> i would ask you guys both this. is it a good idea we rein in the $14 trillion in debts? is that a good idea? >> i'm not the one to answer that. heather is going to have to answer that. >> i think it's really important that we get our long-term debt under control. right now we're facing a short-term deficit crisis. >> i think the question is, will, if i -- let me jump in here. i think a better question or better way of saying it is that are these two -- is the deficit and the debt ceiling, why are they tied together? why is washington tying the two together? you don't haven't to tie the debt ceiling to the deficit and therefore many people are saying it is a manufactured crisis. >> that's right. >> yeah, you're exactly right, don, and that's an excellent question. the reason why is because washington has shown no appetite nor any history of controlling long-term deficits at any point.

so, yes, the republicans have done something which ultimately you cannot do, and that is hold the debt ceiling hostage to force these cuts. the reason i tethered that, if you think that's a good idea, you'd better make sure you credit republicans for considering this at this time. >> i think we're risking a rather fragile recovery. i don't believe that medial draconian spending cuts are the way to go. we learned that in 1937 with the great depression. >> hey, listen. i want to move on now and talk about something that's happening in new york today, the sixth and most popular state to legalize gay marriage. leaders who oppose gay marriage are opposing their own parties' interests. listen. >> they're exactly the values that should be promoting this. they want the government out of your personal life, government should not tell you whou you

should mair and they think that marriage is a stabilizing influence on society and they value the sanctity of marriage and here are two people who want to get married. >> okay, so, will, it's interesting. is mayor bloomberg right? is gay marriage a socialist view? >> i think he's putting it exactly right. i say ditto. it's an expansion of freedom. it can be a stabilizing force on society to kind of shore up the idea that two people creating a family is the foundation of our society. >> heather? >> i agree, absolutely. i don't think it's -- in some ways it's a conservative view of what kind of personal liberty there should be but there's a very progressive tradition of equal rights and civil rights of everyone regardless of their race and sexuality, so this is actually where we can agree and it's great that mayor bloomberg is conducting the ceremony as we speak. it's fantastic. >> look at that. we had a political marriage just

now in new york and washington on television. you guys agreed. thank you. heather mcgee and will. appreciate it. listen to this. >> it was so amazing. it's the only way i can describe it. i lost my breath and a few tears, and it's -- it's indescribable. >> she is 76 years old. her partner, 84. and she's referring to being the first same-sex couple to legally mair in new york state under the new same-sex marriage law. in just a few moments we're going to take you live to gracie mansion where mayor michael bloomberg will officiate at another. coming up next on cnn, the nfl lockout. will we get to see football soon? ♪ let me make you smile ♪ let me do a few tricks ♪ some old and then some new tricks ♪

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i think we've craft add long-term agreement that can be good for the game of football, be good for the players, be good for the clubs and mostly and importantly good for our game and for our fans. >> that's right. good for fans. good for the fans.

that's nfl commissioner roerj goodell after they agreed to sign the new agreement. the question now, are the players about to follow suit? joining us now is john from "sports illustrated." there's the sweeps cover with u.s. soccer star hope solo. john, welcome back to the united states. the owners have signed. we're hearing the players will do the same in the next day or two. what's the latest? >> it looks like we're going to get football. we're not quite there yet. still good a cupped more yards go. owners have signed off on this. players are going to take their team. this is going to be a ten-year deal with potentially no escape clauses but you want to make sure it meets your needs. i talked with player last week and he said, we still need go over this but there's going to be football. >> what does this mean for fans, the hall of fame august 7, albany has been canceled. will that be the only game lost that fans won't be able to see? depending how long it takes the

players to sign off on this. we're going to get nfl football. get our regular southbound. you know, these preseason games mean a lot of money to the owners. they don't necessarily like playing football in august. given the spectrum of what could happen, we can afford to miss a week of exhibition football. right now we're only missing a week. >> it's dlag things and gets rosters set, right? >> this week is going to be the wild west. this is going to be crazy season. anyone that plays fantasy football is going to want to hold off as long as they can. bottom line, we're going to get football the second sunday in september. it's good to be an nfl fan right now. there will be football. >> let's switch gears. tiger woods fired his long-time caddy steve williams this week. he was with tiger when he won 13 of 14 of his major titles.

let's listen to williams' reaction. >> i'm extremely disappointed that given the fact that the last 80 months has been difficult. the scandal, he's had a new coach, swing change and the last 80 months have been rather difficult. i've stuck through thick and thin, been incredibly loyal and to have this happened, basically you can say i've wasted two years of my life. >> wow, quite a reaction there. listen, jon. williams was tiger's last link to his glory days and he took a lot of heat to tiger's scandal. wa's going on here. >> williams worked for another player. williams is upset. given what's gone on with tiger woods, how could this be handled so poorly? this is turned the biblical story. this guy had it all and it keeps crashing down. month by month, there's sort of another decline.

he could let it turn into a p.r. nightmare really boggles the month. >> how much is tiger going to miss williams as he tries to make a comeback from his recent scandal and the injuries. >> this is a guy who's going to get snapped up in a second. >> until he can get back out there on the golf kourks people see him on the putting green limping around. until his body stops betraying him, it's almost a moot point. you wonder how this could go so badly. >> jon wertheim, thank you. author of the book "score casting." go out and get that book. next hour we're going to be talking with hall of fame quarterback fran tarkenton about the lockout and also his thoughts about the suit by former nfl players charging the league ignoring the efforts of a concussion. you'll hear heartbreaking comments from one of his former

teammates about the effects of his life. make sure you stay tuned. coming up next, an update on the horrific attacks in norway that's claimed the lives of 93 people. specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.

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let's get you caught up on the headlines right now. the suspect in the terrorist attacks in norway is due in court on monday. police say he claims to have acted alone but is expected to plead not guilty. local media has identified the

suspect as anders bearing breivik. the death toll has risen to at least 93. 86 of those victims gunned down at a youth camp run by the ruling labor party and before that seven people were killed in a car bombing in the capital oslo. an autopsy may take place as early as monday to determine the cause of death of sinnerger amy winehouse. she did have a history of drug problems and erratic behavior. police say it could be several days before they have autopsy results. a flurry of activity in washington this hour as lawmakers try to reach some sort of deal on raising the nation's debt ceiling. top house and senate democrats are at the white house right now discussing the situation with president obama. on capitol hill house speaker john boehner held a long conference call with republicans to talk about their next move. make sure you stay with us tonight for the latest on this developing story. they say they wanted to get this

done before the asian and european markets open tomorrow and that deadline is approaching very quickly. a child's birthday party was the scene of a deadly shooting last night in the dallas suburb of grand prairie, texas. the father, 35-year-old killed his wife and four of her family members before turning the gun on himself. about 30 people were attending the party at a roller rink. police say there had been ongoing marital problems. the couple's two children were not hurt. four other people were wounded but expected to recover. five chinese car buffs set a record. there they are. an appraiser said the set is worth at least a million dollars, maybe a million and a half. the cups are made up of rhinocer rhinoceroses' horns. the owner says he's had the cups since the 1970s.

producers said the record-breaking show will air on pbs sometime early next year. i'm going to turn now to jacqui jeras. you never know. i'm going go in my basement and attic and cleaning stuff out and taking it to the antique road show. >> don't you have something? >> i go on binges and just throw every wag. >> do you? that's good. you're not a hoarder. >> no. i have a little junk that i need to get rid of now, but anyway onto the weather. >> onto the weather. i know. hang onto your fans and air conditioning, anything you've got to help you keep cool. you know, this is just so unbelievable how long this heat has been lasting. we had a number of records yesterday. check them out. 193 record highs. 380 record high minimums, that's when the low temp is so high it's extreme. a total of 573 records that were broken or tied on saturday.

they're starting to trickle in today, too, by the way, for example from pennsylvania already reaching triple digits. look at the heat index in d.c. feels like 10 # 1. a little better for you here. boston, let's focus on that. 73 in boston. that's good news. some heat relief across the northern tier of the country. tomorrow is going to try to nudge a little bit further to the south but in change we're going to get some showers and thunderstorms. we've seen a lot of that today. not a lot of organized weather but look at that. things flared from the gulf coast to the great lakes. we're getting very heavy downpours, isolated flash flooding in the urban areas because we're getting as much as 2 inches an hour, especially across the ohio valley. be aware of that if you're trying to cool off at the pool or the beach or the lake, keep those safety rules in mind, too, when it comes to lightning. tomorrow's forecast showing you more of that. all across the east with the pop-up showers and

thunderstorms. it will be impacting your travel in places like philly, d.c., atlanta, and new orleans tomorrow. keep that in mind as you make your way back to work. >> thank you very much, jacqui jeras. appreciate it. do you want to go to new york right now? can we show live pictures of gracie mansion? gracie mansion is where the mayor's going to marry two of his top staff members. there we go. we're going to carry it for you live on cnn. it's really going to be history-making and you're going to see this wedding. imagine a conservative mayor, former presidential contender, now an independent performs a same-sex ceremony. who would have thunk, right? okay. we'll carry it for you right after the break. don't go anywhere. network of po. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice.

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yes, we could have gone to connecticut or marks but we're new yorkers and we really held out and wanted to have our marriage legal here in new york. >> that is jo-. >> that is jo-an shain. they're excited. this is a couple married and over the moon at their wedding reception. they graciously took a break to talk about this day in new york history with same-sex couples can get married, so thank you. we appreciate it. congratulations. we also want to go to doug

robinson and mike elfasser. did i say that right? >> perfect. >> they just had their wedding as well. all four of you were part of a group that sued in 2004. that failed. now the legislature gave you what the courts could not, a legal marriage license, so thank you so much. doug, are you excited? >> we're ecstatic. we -- in our lifetime never thought this would happen, and it's so wonderful that today the state of new york recognizes our family, includes not only just michael and i but also our two sons to say that we are family. >> yeah. and your two sons? you have two sons together that were adopted or from previous marriages, mike? >> they're our adopted sons. we had them -- justin was 11 months when we received him and zachary was 20 months. >> okay.

so mary jo and jo-ann, we haven't forgotten you. we're going to talk to you because it's your big day. we're going dom back after the break and we want you to watch this with us. we're going live now to new york city. that's where michael bloomberg is going to marry his aides after a break. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers.

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it's a fine and fancy day in the city of new york. i feel like i should be wearing my seersucker suit and drinking a mint julep. today new york became the sixth and largest state to license same-sex marriage. michael bloomberg is about to officiate a ceremony to bring together two of his staff members. men are getting married at gracie mansion at a background. we're going to bring this to you live. joining me now two couples just married today. they've been together for 29 years and they have a daughter.

and these two have been together for 20 years and they have two sons. okay. so mary jo, you guys took out time from your reception, your wedding was today, i'm sure you have guests there, but this is such a big deal you wanted to be here on cnn to celebrate and tell the world about it. why? >> this is especially a big day, and, yes, we have guests here and it's a wonderful occasion. this is our wedding day and we're just so proud. >> look at the big smile on jo-an's face. >> say again? >> can't help it. it's a wonderful day. >> yeah. we're having a little bit of trouble hearing you. listen, doug. i'm going to ask you. there have been protesters saying that they're upset because the state of new york redefined marriage between, you know, a man and a woman to mean two men and two women.

they're up set rae defining marriage is. that a talking point or buzz term like real americans? >> the interesting thing about that is we live in america. this is such a wonderful, great country and we're so proud of the americans and new yorkers today and having said that, diversity really rules out here and it's wonderful that they're able to say -- share their experience and their feelings, but it's also tremendous that today justice rules for all and marriage, equality rules in the house of this country, particularly in this state of new york. >> all right. doug, michael, jo-ann, mary jo, stand by. you're looking at a live picture of gracie mansion. watch a live same-sex marriage between twof o mayor bloomberg's top aides. it's going to be interesting. you don't want to go anywhere. we're back right after a break.

>> they're left with the decisions, the de

♪ live pictures now of gracie

mansion. you see the flower girls going in. michael bloomberg about to officiate over two of his aides' wedding. why don't we listen to it for a little bit. ♪ good evening, and welcome to gracie mansion. i just wanted to warn everyone, i'm only official yated as two of these ceremonies before and will do my best, but if i slip up, you feel free stand up and tell me i'm doing anything wrong. so i'm used to people telling me when i'm doing it wrong. we are gathered here today in the presence of family and

friends to witness the exchange of marriage vows of john and jonathan. today john and jonathan come together to officially pledge to live the rest of their lives as one. the ancient ceremony in which they now participate and have asked us to share with them pre-dates recorded human history and today in this city and in this state, history takes an important step forward by allowing every person to participate. so as we now listen to the words and witness john and jonathan enter into the oldest, most revered contract, let us pause for a moment and remember the importance of this to them and to us. they wish to establish a union which is greater than the sum of its parts, and we are gratef grateful -- mike goen going in and out -- we are grateful, we are grateful. yes? no. we are grateful they are

allowing us to take part in this truly momentous ceremony with them and with us. maeve, georgia, decades from now when you are attending the wedding of your great-grandchildren this occasion may come up and i hope you'll remember it this way on a beautiful summer evening in new york city, two people who loved each other dearly came together in front of family and friends and pledged their lives to each other. and when all is said and done, that's what tonight is really all about. that's what this ceremony is about for every couple who are at this moment making the exact same commitment to each other. and i really am glad that i asked to be part of it. i did. and i'm glad jonathan's parents, ruth ann sandy and john's

step-mother lois are here to share in this wonderful day along with the members of her family, but let us not forget, there is quite a cheering section looking down from above, including john's parents, eugene and marjorie. every one of us, john and jonathan, wishes for you a love that makes both of you better people, that continues to give you joy and that provides you with energy, with which to face the responsibilities of your lives, not to mention your jobs with the city government. if you take care of each other, never stop listening and never stop laughing, we know you will do just fine. and now, for the moment that you have all been waiting for. do you, john, solemnly declare that you take jonathan to be your spouse. you promise will love, cherish and keep him for as long as you both shall live?

>> i do. >> as a symbol of your promise to jonathan, we have a ring which you are going place on his finger. thank you. there you go. don't drop it. there we go. it actually fits. way to go. do you, jonathan, solemnly declare that you take john to be your spouse, do you promise to love, cherish and keep him as long as you both shall live? >> i do. >> all right. as a symbol of your promise to john, please place this ring on your finger. i have the ring right here. here you go. wait to go.

john, and jonathan, usually when the three of us are together we are discussing the finer points of illegal guns or consumer fraud. i can't tell you how nice this is for a change. and i can't tell you how pleased i am that this day has finally arrived. it has taken york state a long time to recognize what the two of you must have known instinctively that two people who want to be together and raise a family together and spend of rest of their lives together, have a relationship and a beautiful family, that in every way deserves to be recognized and commemorated equally under the eye of the law, and today we are doing just that. and today is surrounded by family and friends you are making history. not only for the obvious ease reasons, you are making another kind of history equally important. you are writing the next chapter in your personal history and that of your family, and by going through this ceremony, you are changing the future for

yourself and for generations to follow. and when we look beyond the excitement and satisfaction of what today means to so many, awe thought for it to be possible, we come back to what it means to you, john, and to you, jonathan, and to your families stretching back and stretching forward through the years. it is such a simple thing, but it is such san incredible and profound thing. and now to honor john and jonathan, a song from the musical "cabaret" sung by the great joel grey. [ applause ] ♪

all right. as they are singing there, i'm going get back to more discussing and a little bit more personal stuff. we'll get back to the wedding. i want to bring in our guests now to talk about this. joining me now for this special occasion is joann shain and dr. mary jo kennedy that got married earlier today and this couple also got married today. what do you think of this, when you see this, joann and happening on national television ask it is historic. >> well, it's really wonderful, i mean, this is history in the making and it's wonderful to see and it's wonderful to be a part of it. >> yes. and you see there, joann, maeve and georgia, their two daughters. the daughters of the two men. they're helping officiate. >> well, that's wonderful. that's wonderful that their daughters can be part of this wonderful and terrific celebration. our daughter was there for us

today. and it was an unforgettable experience. >> and, michael, you said your two sons were there today. correct? >> yes. and they're 23 and 25 years old now, and they were our best men today. it was wonderful. >> as well as witnessing our document when we became married. so it was really a great moment for us. >> you guys have been together what? 25 years? >> 25 years, and it's been wonderful. and we are very blessed to have two wonderful son, and we have a great relationship, and great family members who are very supportive. >> how long have you and joann been together? >> 29 years. >> 29 years. i've got to ask you this. some people would say, why on earth would you want to get married? you straight couples are going, what's wrong with gay people? why do they want to get married? we don't even want to get